LETTER FROM TROOPER McLEAN

Te Aroha News, Volume XVI, Issue 222047, 6 February 1900, Page 3

LETTER FROM TROOPER McLEAN

Trooper Charles C. McLean (late of Te Aroha) of the Coromandel Rifle Corps, in a letter dated from Arundel, December 20th, .1899, writes as follows :

Our duty here is mostly scouting—trying tqdraw the Boers out of the kopjes, te getting information abeut them, and 1 commandeering their cattle and sheep, and we have had a couple of nasty little ‘ scraps’ with them, of which I will write more further on. Coring back to the beginning, or 'the time we leftj the colonies, as must have read in the papers, we were very well treated, and had a great b send-off at both Auckland and Wellingten. We had a splendid [passage over, with the exception of one gale which we ran into, and had a [lively time of it all night. One of our chaps slipped on deck and hurt his spine so badly that he return home again ; and another , fellow fell and sprained his ankle through the rolling and tossing of the vessel, n o lost 13 horses on the voyage, which lasted 33 days. We went ashore at Albany for a few hours, and had a look round the place. Tho country is very barren looking, consisting of sandstone hills, covered with low shrubs and boulders, but the township is rather a pretty place, the oldfashioned stone cottages, with pretty flower gardens in front, reminding me of descriptions I have heard of an English village. The roads are splendid all round Albany, and they have a fine harbour. Business seemed dull, but they took advantage our being there and charged us doiule on everything we bought. On board ship our duties were pretty constant, from 5.30 a.m. till 7 and 8 o’clock at night, We had the horses to look&fter, stables and decks to sweep and wash down, and gear to clean ; drill and inspection parades. I was also learning the Mo' se signalling on board, but have - not done any since landing. We had some good shooting practice, firmg at targets thrown overboard, up to 1300 yards, at which distance some gcod shooting was dr)ne . . We arrived at Capetown at‘l a’.m. on Thursday, and got the . horses landed ere noon, and started to V/ march out, leading the horses, to Mait•r land camp, a distance of about six miles, where we stayed till Monday. There are two large camps at Capetown, one at Maitland and the other at Green Point Common, at the opposite side of the town. Tliev are depot camps for newly-arrived troops awaiting orders. There were a thousands present while we were there, but they were being sent to the front as fast as the trams could convey them, men we got the order to be m readiness to make a start on the Monday we bad not had much time to inspect the town. When leaving we were given a send-off by tbs Mayor and public of the town, with a military band in attendance, and there were also about 20 pipers who -played us round to the station, while there we bad a talk with a number of wounded who had come down to Ihe hospital. Borne were minus arms, legs, and fingers, and others had nasty wounds; yet they seemed quite jolly and contented. They all strongly advised us that if we lmd a go at the Boers to show the treacherous deviis no mercy, as they would show none. "V w e left about 5 p.m. on Wednesday, and arrived at De Arr junction at about 11 a.m. We expected to be sent on to Kimberley, so that when we were ordered to Naauwpoort we were disappointed. From Capetown to Naauwpoort the distance is 569 miles, and the only tree or bit of grass that we saw had been planted by the people in the towns. The whole of the country is rocky or consists of sandy stretches of flat land, with rocky kopjes, and patches of shrubs of about eight inches in height. We did not see one river or creek on the whole jour ny, It is a terribly dry country and vry dusty. The only water supply we have is from artesian wells. We were in camp at Naauwpoort for seven days, which time was spent in drilling and scouting, hut we did not come across any Boers. There were four prisoners in Naauwpoort. We then moved out, about ci ooo troops in all, the New Zealand Mounted Rifles acting as scouts. We covered about 12 miles on the first day and bi ✓ouacked on the veldt. On the -“next day we went to Arundel, about eight miles, where we are at present camped. The railway has been repaired up to here, and troops have been arriving almost daily. Colesburg, a British town captured by the Boers, and strongly fortified, is about eight miles north-east of us. It is a natural fortress, as it is surrounded by kopjes, with a narrow pass at either end. General French, who is m command of the troops here, is only waiting ioi reinforcements to attack the place, We have had a couple of nasty ‘ scraps’ with the enemy, but have got off very 1 lckily, losing one man only, George Bradford, of Paeroa, who was wounded aid takeß prisoner. We thought he was j&p. dead—the way he fell from his horse on his head —nntil the ambulance went out and were told he had been taken prisoner. To-day is Friday. I have been writing this since Wednesday—just when I have had time, by candlelight and daylight, Christmas is only three days off, (' and no mail has come yet I believe we are to have a Christmas pudding, and some beer and whisky [Trooper McLean, we believe, is a Good Templar—Ed.], so we will keep up Christmas day—even in this desert. Our chaps have been busy lately commandeering aE the sheep, cattle, and horses they can lay their hands on, and we have brought in a good many. I dp not know how long we wEI be here, address it ‘ Arundel,* and letter all right. Trooper finishes by wishing hia Coromandel friends a merry Xmas and a happy New Year.